The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job

Chapter 8. A TV from Sichuan

To the consumer, China's entry into global markets seems at first sight to be tracking the road traveled by Japan and later by South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Both Japan and the tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) initially flooded global markets with low-quality, cheap products, priced well below those of domestic producers and other foreign competitors. With quality and reliability improving, prices were kept in check or rose modestly, forming a value proposition that global customers could not ignore. The range of exports then gradually expanded to cover broader product categories, mostly by way of moving up market (for example, from a simple transistor radio to a stereo radio-tape). The more ...